By Abayomi Azikiwe
During the early morning hours of December 2, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) relaunched with full force their siege upon the Gaza Strip.
In press releases issued by the IDF, the entity claims that it is surrounding the city of Khan Younis where it is bombing and shelling residential areas causing more deaths and injuries among the Palestinians.
IDF fighter jets dropped ordnance on the towns of Aabsan, Bani Suhaila, and al-Qarara in the district of Khan Younis which is located in the southern Gaza Strip. In the northern region of Gaza, artillery units shelled neighborhoods in al-Shujaiya, al-Zeitoun, and al-Daraj in Gaza City. Correspondents from the Palestinian media reported that large numbers of people were killed by airstrikes on residential neighborhoods in Jabalia also in the northern Gaza Strip.
However, Palestinian resistance forces such as the Al-Qassam Brigades, Al-Quds Brigades and others, say they are engaging Israeli military units utilizing anti-tank weapons and improvised explosive devices. Casualty figures among the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) which are growing rapidly have been rarely reported in the Israeli press along with their western corporate and governmental controlled counterparts.
Worldwide demonstrations have occurred since October 7 when the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced their military campaign to destroy the Hamas resistance movement which has controlled the territory since 2007. Notwithstanding the constant propaganda and psychological warfare promoted in the western industrialized states and their surrogates, huge segments of the people have recognized the necessity for expressing solidarity with the Palestinians.
Throughout the West Asia and Africa regions, rallies and marches have been held for the last two months. Within South America several governments have withdrawn their ambassadors, and some have broken diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv.
Even within the western capitalist countries such as the United States, which provides the bulk of Israeli military, economic, political and diplomatic assistance, millions have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the administration of President Joe Biden which has maintained unconditional support for the IDF’s genocidal war on Gaza and the other areas of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Biden has been labelled by many young people as “Genocide Joe” in light of the escalation of weapons transfers to Israel and its his failure to call for a ceasefire. The mantra advanced by the administration and the overwhelming majority within the Congress is that the settler-colonial state has a right to defend itself from the oppressed Palestinian population and others throughout the region where Israel has either seized land or engaged in military attacks.
Despite the widespread protests from North America and Europe to Africa, Asia and Australia against the war on Gaza, the White House has maintained its tactical and strategic assistance to the IDF while more than 16,000 Palestinians have been killed, tens of thousands wounded and over two million displaced by the bombing, shelling and blockades carried out by the Netanyahu regime. Various humanitarian agencies within and outside the rubric of the United Nations have warned the international community about the dire circumstances now prevailing in Gaza.
An article published by Al Jazeera on December 6 notes the announcement by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that he is prepared to evoke Article 99 of the U.N. Charter, saying:
“This is the secretary-general’s equivalent of pushing the panic button. Article 99 in the UN charter gives him the authority to call for a Security Council meeting for any topic that he views as a threat to international peace and security. And he’s doing so over Gaza. He’s doing this as a majority of council members have expressed support for a humanitarian ceasefire. However, the council has not invoked a resolution. The United States has been very clear in its opposition. The U.S., as a veto-wielding member, as recently as yesterday, said it did not believe such a resolution would help the situation. It instead called for continued negotiations.”
The negotiations which occurred in Doha, Qatar were largely designed for the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and the captives held since October 7 by Hamas and other resistance organizations in Gaza. Washington and Tel Aviv are categorically opposed to a lasting ceasefire let alone any discussion centering on a permanent solution to the Palestinian question which must include the creation of an independent sovereign state and the abolition of the racist system of occupation.
Washington Facilitating Genocide in Palestine
Israel plays an indispensable role for U.S. imperialism in West Asia and North Africa. The constant repressive tactics against the Palestinians are part and parcel of a regional strategy to maintain hegemony for Washington and Wall Street over the flow of oil, natural gas and other valuable resources. Whether the Democrats or Republicans are in the White House and Congress, the same foreign policy remains in force.
The Pentagon still has several thousand troops stationed in Iraq and Syria. There have been the deployment of two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Storm by the Gaza resistance on October 7. Under the guise of fighting “terrorism,” the U.S. has ignored the repeated calls by the governments in Iraq and Syria to leave their territory. Consequently, there is rising animosity towards the presence of U.S. troops throughout the entire West Asia region. Resistance organizations in Iraq, Syria and Yemen are carrying out attacks on Pentagon bases and Israeli-linked vessels. In an attack on the Resistance in Iraq, the U.S. killed five fighters from Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).
In relation to the genocidal war in Gaza, the Israeli regime announced on December 6 that they have been receiving massive shipments of weapons from the U.S.:
“The Israeli Ministry of Security announced the arrival of the 200th cargo plane delivering military equipment for the Israel Occupation Forces (IOF). This marks the transportation of over 10,000 tons of military equipment to the Israeli regime since the start of the war on Gaza. ‘The 200th cargo plane carrying military equipment for the [IOF] has arrived in Israel. Over 10,000 tons of military equipment were delivered since the beginning of the war, including armored vehicles, armaments, personal protective equipment, medical supplies, ammunition, and more,’ the ministry said on X, formerly known as Twitter.”
Historically there has been a wide variety of weapons being transferred from Washington to Tel Aviv:
“Referring to a comprehensive study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms Transfers Database, Axios reported that the United States has provided the Israelis with more than 70,000 units of weapons, including aircraft, ground vehicles, missiles, and bombs, as military aid between 1950 and 2022.
“Israel stands as the largest recipient of U.S. foreign military financing, with the majority of aid taking the form of weapon grants. According to Elias Yousif, a U.S. arms transfer expert at the Stimson Center, it is a ‘safe assumption’ that U.S. weapons are extensively used in the ongoing Israeli operations in Gaza.
“In 2023 alone, the U.S. has supplied Israel with at least 16 types of weapons, including missiles and aircraft, although specific details regarding the exact numbers and types remain undisclosed.”
Consequently, the people living in the U.S. have a monumental responsibility for ending the siege on Gaza and bringing about the liberation of Palestine. The national oppression of the Palestinian people and the blatant interference in the internal affairs of other independent states in the region are a by-product of U.S. imperialist foreign policy.
Demonstrations in the U.S. have targeted politicians for their refusal to withdraw their allegiance to Tel Aviv. Other actions have highlighted the trade relations between the U.S. and Israel. It is quite obvious to many people that the State of Israel could not exist in its present form without the politico-military assistance from the ruling class in the U.S. and its minions.
Solidarity with the Palestinian struggle is growing exponentially in North America and Western Europe posing a significant challenge to the status-quo. The Biden administration is ignoring the fact that two-thirds of the electorate in the U.S. are in favor of a ceasefire.
The upcoming 2024 national elections could become a referendum on both the domestic and foreign policies of the White House and the Congress. Nonetheless, what is actually needed is a new political dispensation which rejects imperialism and recognizes the right to self-determination and sovereignty for all nations and peoples of the world.
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